On the Road in Venezuela

Though foreign journalists are routinely banned from the oil-rich country, Stephen Sackur presents a special edition of HARDtalk on the road in Venezuela.

Anti-government demonstrations have swept across Venezuela in recent days as anger over the country's economic and political crisis has fuelled a wave of protests. Shortages of food and other basic supplies, and an inflation rate thought to have topped 1000%, have left more than eighty per cent of Venezuelans living in poverty.

Opposition leaders have accused President Nicolas Maduro of mounting a coup against democracy after he tried and failed to abolish the powers of the opposition-controlled National Assembly. The socialist president claims the United States and other western powers are colluding with domestic enemies of the socialist revolution.